Other Worlds Austin has announced its final selection the 2015 edition of Austin’s first and only SciFi film festival, Closing Night Film, EMBERS. Filled with intense performances and breathtaking cinematography, EMBERS is the rare science fiction film that excels in its lack of exposition. An atmospheric tone poem in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, EMBERS captures the human condition, stripped away of everything but personality and instinct.

“Embers is a breathtaking film full of gorgeous imagery and delicate emotion,” says Bears Fonte, Founder and Director of Programming. “It is about as far away from Robots and Aliens as SciFi can get, which is probably why we are the first genre festival they are playing. If you liked THE MIDNIGHT SWIM from our Year Round Screening Series (which I think basically everyone who came did), this is your kind of Science Fiction. In this year where we unveil the Mary Shelley Award, it is especially encouraging to have such a strong film by a female writer/director as our Closing Night Film.”

Written and Directed by Claire Carré, EMBERS takes place in a world that has moved on. In the wake of a global neurological epidemic, those who remain search for meaning and connection in a world without memory. Five interwoven stories explore life without recollection in a future that has no past. A boy longs for a role model, a young man embraces his rage, a teacher hunts for a cure, a couple clings to each other desperate to preserve their feelings, and a young woman wants nothing more than to forget.

“Claire Carré's first feature film toys with the fanciful notion that a woman can direct, edit, and co-write a project that is thematically ambitious, visually evocative, and devastatingly relatable to us all,”

Upcoming Screenings

BOY 7

Opening Night Film

December 3rd, 7:42pm

US Premiere

NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT

Centerpiece Film

December 4th, 7:45pm

Texas Premiere

EMBERS

Closing Night Film

December 5th, 7:30

Texas Premiere

As Well As Curtain, House of Time (US Premiere), Jackrabbit, Night of the Living Deb, Other Halves, Polder, Projet-M, Reconnoiter, T.I.M. The Incredible Machine, Vintage Tomorrows and three shorts programs!

says Jordan Brown, Programmer and Director of Submissions. “And she's quite successful at it. Pushing beyond gender to the broader question of what it means to be human, EMBERS presents characters trapped in a post-apocalyptic, GROUNDHOG DAY existence where memories are not retained and each day is a new, yet strangely familiar, slate.”

Carré joins four other finalists for the inaugural Mary Shelley Award, Nina Fog (actress, POLDER), Lucy Campbell (writer/director THE PIG CHLD), Scarlett Moreno (writer/director/actress VIV 1.0 or THE MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN) and Carole Braba (actress, REPLIKA and ON/OFF). SciFi Fans will recognize Nina Fog from MIchael Winterbottom’s excellent CODE 46. In POLDER she plays Ryuko, the lover of a tragically lost virtual reality games designer, who searches inside the game for clues about her lover’s disappearance.

“Amongst the many characters in POLDER, it's the character of Ryuko that stands out in this surreal alternative reality of games,” says Debbie Cerda, Programmer and Outreach Director. “Mother, lover, resistance fighter–Fog rises to the challenge in her portrayal of a complex woman.”

The Mary Shelley Award, sponsored by Seattle-based Canine Productions, is part of Other Worlds Austin’s continuing effort to discover and celebrate female voices working in the genre field, and will be awarded to the artist that best furthers the involvement and representation of women in the SciFi genre.

Here are the other nominees:

THE PIG CHILD

“The eternal question of science: just because we can, should we?” asks Brown. “Calling to mind our Award namesake's greatest work, director Lucy Campbell and writer Scout Stuart shine a light on the frightening possibilities a female scientist is afforded thanks to biology (and those useful uteruses). Protagonist Rosa sees Victor Frankenstein's bet to create unnatural life and raises the stakes by using her own body as the vessel. Girl power, indeed.”

VIV 1.0 or THEY MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN

“Scarlet Moreno writes, directs and stars in this dark comedy about a forgotten robot,” says Cerda. “Moreno brings a haunting tale to the screen that evokes a loneliness with which the viewer can identify—what is our role in this vast universe?”

REPLIKA

ON/OFF

“It proved a delightful surprise for us to discover that two of the films that we loved and desired to play at our festival star the same actress,” says Courtney Hazlett, Programmer and Director of Operations. “What a testament to Carole Brana's talent that her performances in both REPLIKA and ON/OFF were so remarkably different and powerful. Each film has a phenomenal story making them a must-see. REPLIKA follows a couple in a futuristic world where android children are the norm however the wife desires to adopt a human child. ON/OFF is set in space as an astronaut questions her safety, mission, and sanity. I can't speaker higher of these two films and their incredibly written lead female characters.”

Want more value for your badge? How about a Saturday morning brunch before movies start to clear your head of all the madness of the first two days of films? Other Worlds Austin is excited to announce that Dykema Cox Smith, a great law firm with offices throughout Texas, as well as Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, DC and Los Angeles will once again be sponsoring our mid-festival gathering of SciFi fans and filmmakers over eggs, bacon and mimosas. Last year, the grand galactic gathering was sponsored by Cox Smith, but since then Cox Smith, a 75+ year firm, merged with Dykema Gossett an 85+ year firm - so in the grand traditions of sequeals that have to be bigger with more explosions, we welcome back/for the first time, Dykema Cox Smith as a sponsor this year.

2015: A Brunch Odyssey will make its monolithic appearance at 10:00 am on December 5th at Romano’s Macaroni Grill, only a few minutes from the the Galaxy Highland at 9828 Great Hills Trail, just off 183. Badge holders are invited to join us for an epic brunch to kick off Saturday’s full day of films. This year the brunch

Through their practice management structure and their focused Industry Groups, they know and understand the industries in which their clients compete, from Automotive to Energy, from Hospitality and Gaming to Financial Institutions. Bottom line, they are attuned to the latest industry trends that affect our clients’ businesses, enabling them to provide counsel that is comprehensive, insightful and cost-effective.

Dykema Cox Smith has offices here in Austin, and nearby in San Antonio, as well as Dallas, McAllen, El Paso, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and other places up north where it is cold. Here in Austin, they work with many cutting edge companies and start-ups, building an exciting future.

will have an Italian flair: Chicken Parmesan Eggs Benedict, Parmesan Potatoes, Ciabatta Bread, as well as scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage, all included with your badge. And $2 Mimosas/Bloody Marys – the first one’s on us! Enjoy the food and engage with your fellow film-goers. And better yet, you won’t even miss any movies, as the films won’t begin until the afternoon. (Note: we cannot be held responsible if you miss movies due to Parmeson-Potato-Induced-Food-Coma). Food is limited so be sure to get there as soon as you drag yourself out of bed.

Dykema Cox Smith is distinguished by their cost-effective and collaborative partnerships with clients. They deliver practical, results-oriented counsel earning accolades from clients nationwide for their efforts on clients' behalf in the courtroom and in the boardroom.

by ERIC HARRELSON — We made it, you guys. We're here. This is now officially the future.

October 21, 2015 was the date to which Marty McFly travels in BACK TO THE FUTURE PART 2. Marty lands in a world that has the Cubs winning the World Series, strangely shaped Pepsi bottles ordered via robot, flying cars, hover boards, self lacing shoes, and 3D holographic movies. It's the future of the past.

Science has always looked towards science fiction for inspiration, so it's no surprise that BTTF 2 got some things right. It got a whole lot more wrong, but I digress. Science fiction futures stretch nearly as far back as the written word. Greek writer Lucian of Samosata (AD 125-AD 180) wrote “A True Story,” which includes elements of modern SciFi, including travel to the moon and encounters with aliens on Venus. So it's pretty safe to say the human race has always been fascinated with science and the future, and what incredible things await us.

What creative minds envisioned for the future has always fascinated me, from the distant future of STAR TREK, to the come and gone future of CLASS OF 1999. Although I do love to envision

humanity in the 40th century, as in BARBARELLA, I have always been particularly taken by those works that are set in a future that has already come to pass. While certainly anything is possible thousands of years from now, seeing what a writer thinks will happen in their own lifetime, or at least in the next few decades, is more indicative of the excitement and hopes for what technology may accomplish right along side the fears of what an uncertain future will bring. What those writers thought about our future give us a unique insight into the cultural attitudes of our past.

My fascination with the future of the past probably started with old cartoons from the 1930's 40's and 50's. In particular the WORLD OF TOMORROW series by Tex Avery.

While whimsical and silly, these shorts still show a primarily positive attitude about the future. Post war optimism and modern conveniences. In a time when large swaths of the country didn't have running water, power, or telephones, small things like an electric mixer in the kitchen were incredible. Remember that dishwashers didn't become widespread until the 1970's. The technological advances of the time were mechanical devices, mostly electric, that made everyday chores easier and more efficient. So the fictional technologies followed along those same lines. A machine that washes dishes automatically? Then why not a broom that sweeps the floor automatically, or a bathroom where you can push a button and be shaved by a pair of mechanical arms? The streamlined, art deco design inspires this future of efficiency, convenience, and increased leisure time.

Parsec the Space Kitty says “don’t let any pretty boy stand between you and your badge, even if he sometimes throws you a fish for doing tricks on command.” Parsec knows that a badge is the only way to see all the films you want at the 2015 Other Worlds Austin Film Festival, 10 screenings for $60, or $6.00 per film. A badge gurantees you a seat at each screening slot, and Parsec says you won’t like it if you are depending on buying an individual ticket to the films you want to see. He can be a vicious little guy and once ripped the throat out of Christini Ricci when she tried to cut in the badge line in front of ’ that darn cat.’ “These Velociraptors got nothing on me” adds Parsec, who was recently installed as the Other Worlds Austin 2015 mascot.

This year’s festival includes Opening US Premiere BOY 7, Centerpiece NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT, Closing Night Film EMBERS and plenty of robots, aliens and time travel to satisfy your SciFi needs for another year. “There has to be at least one with a cat in it,” says Parsec, disregarding the fact that there are no movies in our program about cats.

Your seat will be guaranteed as long as you arrive at the theater at least 15 minutes before the screening time. At 15 minutes, tickets will go on sale to the general public. Late arriving badgeholders will have to go to the back of the general admission line.

“Mad Max Fury Road was a much better film than Jurassic World,” adds Parsec, even though nobody particularly asked him his opinion, or ever does.

Don’t delay.Quantities are limited. After a great and sold-out inaugural year in 2014, we expect the festival to sell out again.

Coming in for the weekend for Other Worlds Austin? There are several hotels near the Galaxy Highland Theater, and a special discount rate from Habitat Suites for our Other Worlds Austin attendees!

SFANTHOR/MUSEUM OF THE WEIRD PRE-APOCALYPTIC HAPPY HOUR

Join the OWA team and filmmakers at our first event of the festival -- the Pre-Apocalyptic Happy Hour, Thursday, December 3rd from 5 - 7 pm, sponsored by two of Austin’s coolest (and weirdest!) attractions, the SFANTHOR! HOUSE OF WAX and The MUSEUM OF THE WEIRD.

THINK FURY ROAD IS GREAT? YOU’RE WRONG. HERE’S WHY.

By Bears Fonte —Our most controversial blog post of the year - more comments on this article or facebook post than all the others combined. The views are from Bears alone.